noise

1 /nOIz/ noun

1 SOUND (C, U) sound, especially a loud or unpleasant sound: the noise of the traffic | a loud cracking noise | make (a) noise: Try not to make a noise when you go upstairs. | Stop making so much noise.

2 make polite/encouraging etc noises to talk in a way that sounds polite, encouraging etc: My teacher made encouraging noises when I told her I wanted to go to university. | make the right noises (=pretend to be concerned about or interested in what someone is saying)

3 make a noise about to complain a lot about something so that other people will notice

4 ELECTRICAL (U) technical unwanted signals produced by an electrical circuit

5 COMPUTERS (U) technical pieces of unwanted information that can prevent a computer from working effectively

—see also: big noise USAGE NOTE: NOISE WORD CHOICE: noise, sound, racket, voice A sound is anything that you hear: I love the sound of the sea. | the sound of voices/a guitar/breaking glass A noise is usually an unpleasant sound, often not made by a person: 'What's that noise?' she asked nervously. | They had to shout to make themselves heard above the noise of the machines. A voice is the sound of a person speaking or singing: We heard voices outside. | She has rather a high-pitched voice. Racket is an informal word for a loud unpleasant noise: They're making a hell of a racket next door. 2 verb be noised abroad/about/around old-fashioned, especially BrE if news or information is noised abroad people are talking about it: Rumours of an election are being noised abroad.